(Source: CGTN)

Only 7 days remain before French nationals head to the polls to take part in a presidential election that's turning out to be a race to the finish. Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen tore into her main rival, centrist Emmanuel Macron, while conservative Francois Fillion took things lighter and turned to the Catholic community for their support. At a rally in the southern city of Perpignan on Saturday, Le Pen expressed her attitude towards social policy, globalization and immigration.

"No more austerity and the progressive destruction of our model of social protection! No more liberalization of public services! No more financial dictates from Berlin and the European Central Bank! No more, in short, this despicable ideology of globalization no matter what, wild globalization, crazy immigration and welcome to everyone to France," she said.

The presidential race looks tighter than ever as two polls put all four frontrunners within reach of a two-person run-off vote. One poll showed Macron and Le Pen tied on 22 percent in the April 23rd first round. The daily survey by Opinionway had Macron as leader on 23 percent and far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon behind on 17 percent. The most striking trend in the past few days has been the late surge in support for Melenchon.